The purpose of the laryngoscope is to aid in intubation. During the intubation process, a laryngoscope is used to open the airways and provide enough light to enable the user to pass an endotracheal tube through the vocal cords, securing the airway so as to provide ventilation to the lungs.
Orotracheal intubation by direct laryngoscopy is the method of airway management in critically ill and injured patients, as well as patients undergoing all types of surgery in which general anesthesia is used. Intubation is performed by anesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists, emergency medicine and critical care physicians, dentists and maxillofacial surgeons, veterinarians, and in the out-of-hospital setting by paramedics. Orotracheal intubation is performed many thousands of times daily in the US, and millions of times daily worldwide in operating rooms, emergency departments, intensive care units, and every ambulance in the world.